EYOC Relay: gold medals to 4 nations

Four classes, gold to four nations. Athletes from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden all tasted glory today. Nine nations won medals; the highest number, silver medals in three classes, went to the Czech Republic.

W16 – nervous moments before the start                                                Photos: Donatas Lazauskas

A Scandinavian team proved to be the strongest in all the relay classes, but the Czech teams took silver medals in M18 and W16, finishing 34 and 35 seconds down on the winners, Norway and Finland, respectively. Bronze medals in M18 went to the home nation Lithuania, and in W16 to Hungary. Sweden won W18 by 18 seconds, with Finland second and Russia third.

W16 podium

Martin Vehus Skjerve brings Norway into victory in M18

Denmark had the biggest win of the day, in M16 by 2.57 after leading throughout. Here the Czechs took their third set of silver medals, whilst the bronze medals went to Estonia.

The final day of the Championships is tomorrow: the Sprint in Vilnius Old Town. The courses are largely in the old town’s narrow and twisty streets, passages and backyards plus an area of public park. The races will have full TV coverage similar to a World Cup race, and can be followed on IOF Live. Racing starts at 0900 local time (CEST + 1).

Cover photo: Hanna Jonsell comes to the finish to take a W18 win for Sweden

Leading relay results

W18

1. Sweden (E Sonesson, I Bengtsson, H Jonsell) 1:35:06
2. Finland (E Tale, I Karppinen, S Isoherranen) 1:35:24
3. Russia (A Kurova, K Beskhmelnova, O Gladilkina) 1:37:05
4. Hungary, 5. Latvia, 6. Czech Republic

M18

1. Norway (A Bjørnerød, B Takle, MV Skjerve) 1:42:35
2. Czech Republic (V Cech, L Vitebsky, M Simsa) 1:43:09
3. Lithuania (T Dementavicius, A Casas, A Lapinstas) 1: 47:14
4. Estonia, 5. Russia, 6. Finland

W16

1. Finland (V Pellikka, E Punto, S Kemppi) 1:16:49
2. Czech Republic (M Novotna, M Metelkova, L Martanova) 1:17:24
3. Hungary (L Lemtai, J Mikes, R Maramarosi) 1:23:24
4. Russia, 5. Latvia, 6. France

M16

1. Denmark (C Blakskjær, N Dalgaard, H Mogensen) 1:30:36
2. Czech Republic (J Strycek, J Rocansky, D Bolehovsky) 1:33:33
3. Estonia (CM Krahv, OR Priks, R Marenakk) 1:34:34
4. Poland, 5. Russia, 6. Belgium

Race highlights (Produced by Edgars Sparāns):